The Houston Parks and Recreation Department is thankful to the alert actions of a citizen this morning.The citizen observed suspicious activity around light fixtures at Moody Park and reported the incident to HPD.HPD responded swiftly taking two men into custody for destroying park property.In the past two weeks, light fixtures at two City of Houston parks have been targeted by copper thieves for a total cost of $7,800.This cost does not include down time or personnel costs to fix the damage.

"We are thankful to the citizen who reported the suspicious activity they observed to HPD and to HPD for responding so promptly," said Joe Turner, Director Houston Parks and Recreation Department."Our budget is stretched pretty tight right now and when copper thefts like this happen that impacts our bottom line.We need help from our citizens to be safe and report suspicious activity in parks to HPD when they see it happen."

This is the third time Moody Park lights were targeted in the past two weeks.Baseball and soccer field light fixtures were stripped of copper for a total cost of $6,500.Memorial Park tennis lights have also been targeted two times in as many weeks for a total cost of $1,300.

Citizens are advised to report suspicious activity in parks to HPD and to report repair need to any park or park facility to by calling 3-1-1 or online at www.houstontx.gov/311.

The Houston Parks and Recreation Department (H.P.A.R.D.) stewards and manages over 38,992 acres of parkland and greenspace for the City of Houston and develops and implements recreational programming for citizens of all abilities. For more information on the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, call (832) 395-7022 or visit www.houstonparks.org.